


Spontaneous

by Pryde_of_kittens



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blood, College AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Gore, Multi, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Spontaneous AU, Worried Keith (Voltron), Worried Shiro (Voltron), they love each other a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-11-23 11:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18151082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pryde_of_kittens/pseuds/Pryde_of_kittens
Summary: “What do you mean he blew up?” Keith asked, obviously trying to keep the disbelief out of his tone.“Just like it sounds.” Lance replied, picking at the blood underneath his fingernails. “One minute he was sitting next to me, the next he was gone and blood was splattered on everything in the room.”Alternatively, people spontaneously combust, and Lance is sad but jokes a lot.(Spontaneous AU)





	1. The First of Many

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is a Spontaneous AU. Spontaneous is an amazing book written by Aaron Starmer that I highly recommend you check out! The plot of this fic is mainly based off the plot in that book.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)

Lance’s laugh rang out through the science lab. Friday. This semester, he had a three hour lab on a Friday night. 

Someone up there had it out for him, that’s for sure.

The only thing that made it more bearable was Anthony. Anthony was a cute Sophomore with long curls and a boyish smile. Now don’t get him wrong, he didn’t think about Anthony in a romantic way. Lance’s heart was devoted to two men and two men only. That didn’t mean he could deny that Anthony was a big softy who was attractive inside and out. 

Seriously, he was the only reason Lance hasn’t jumped through his labs third story window yet. 

“I’m serious!” Anthony protested with an small smile on his face, “It makes sense!”

Lance gasped in a breath. “Anthony, your mom isn’t secretly Beyonce. I think you would know if she was.” He shook his head and had a brief thought that he should really be working on his Physics lab. Lance turned around to reach down into his bag and grab his protractor. 

“No, I wouldn’t! That’s the poi-” Anthony was cut off by a loud boom paired with a gross splat that reverberated through the class room. 

No. Anthony wasn’t cut off by the splat, he was the splat. 

Lance’s hands shook as he dropped the now blood splattered protractor, to face the gore on the seat to the right of his own. 

Screams erupted through the classroom as some students ran out of the class and some sat still in their seats, shock coating their features. Lance heard the distant sound of gagging in the hallway, but he blocked all sound out as he focused on the blood now staining his entire right side. 

He wasn’t sure how long he sat, just staring at what was left of his friend, until he felt the distant tug of someone’s hands on him. 

~~~~~

Lance stood on the sidewalk, a few other students yards away from him, also waiting for someone. 

After being questioned by the police for almost an hour, he had called Shiro and Keith to come pick him up. He knew they were confused on the phone, but he couldn’t be bothered to explain it to them. Instead he just asked them to come get him from outside their University’s science building and hung up the phone on any follow up questions.  
He was still covered in blood, obviously. Couldn’t exactly shower when the police were desperately looking for traces of explosives on any of the students. 

He saw Shiro and Keith across the lot before they saw him. Therefore, when they saw him on the sidewalk surrounded by police, covered in blood, he caught their full reaction.

Shiro’s was expected. His face was an automatic mix of concern and worry as he started to rush over to Lance’s position. Keith had a similar reaction, though he immediately started to look around as if whoever caused Lance’s harm would have a big sign over their head saying “I did it!” 

This was a moment that Lance would usually take to gush over the love he had for his caring boyfriends, but he was a bit preoccupied with trying to block out any emotions so he wouldn’t have a full meltdown in public. 

“Holy shit.” Shiro breathed softly when he got close enough for Lance to hear him. That confirmed that Lance looked like shit, as Shiro usually refrained from cursing other than the occasional stubbing of his toe. 

Lance wouldn’t know how he looked though, he had avoided his reflection. He didn’t want to see the blood. 

Before Shiro or Keith, who at this point had also reached Lance, could question him, he spoke. 

“The police have already cleared me. Can we please go home? I desperately need a shower.” 

~~~

The drive back to Shiro’s apartment was tense. Though Lance and Keith both had their own dorm on campus, they always preferred Shiro’s apartment when they were spending the night together. 

Lance sat in the backseat, trying to ignore the blood he was definitely getting on Shiro’s car. Keith had opted to sit in the back with him, and Lance could feel him sending worried glances every other minute. 

When they finally got to Shiro’s apartment, Lance rushed inside and into the bathroom, desperate to get the now mostly dried blood off of him.

As Lance washed away the blood, watching it go down the drain, he had to fight to hold down bile. The thought that this blood had belonged to his now deceased friend made him sick to his stomach. The thought of how he died made him feel even more sick, though he pushed that from his mind.  
When Lance finally emerged from the shower after about half an hour, which felt like an eternity for his two boyfriends, he sat with them on the couch. Lance sat on the far left, leaning on the arm of the couch while his two boyfriends scooted closer to him. 

Shiro was the one to break the silence after a few seconds. “Lance,” he started softly, “What happened?”

Lance swallowed, partially out of a nervous habit but partially because the question brought sickness to his throat again. “Anthony exploded.”

There was silent for almost a complete minute. Lance started to question his own sanity under the stares of his two partners and had to turn his gaze to the floor. 

“What do you mean he blew up?” Keith asked, obviously trying to keep the disbelief out of his tone. 

“Just like it sounds.” Lance replied, picking at the blood underneath his nails. “One minute he was sitting next to me, the next he was gone and blood was splattered on everything in the room.”

“Did the police say anything? How does that even happen?” Shiro asked, sharing an incredulous glance with Keith. 

“The police didn’t find anything to suggest the blame fell on one of the students,” Lance answered quietly, “though, I suppose Anthony himself could have had some sort of explosive on him.”

A few more seconds of silence passed. “Oh my god Lance.” Keith sputtered out. His eyes did a once over Lance’s body, as if he couldn’t believe Lance wasn’t falling apart. “That must have been horrible”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Lance joked with a wavering tone, “just kind of wet and squishy.” Shiro and Keith stared at him and he deflated even more, “Sorry, I know I shouldn’t joke.”

Keith was the one to snap out of it first. He grabbed Lance’s hand gently and ran his thumb over the top, leaning in closer. “Lance, you can do whatever you want. You went through something traumatic. I just think you’re joking to hide your true feelings, and that’s not healthy. It’s just going to make you break down eventually.”

“You sound like my therapist.” Lance forces himself to joke again, though this time tears streamed down his cheeks. His chest started to shake and both of his boyfriends surged forward as he fell into them. As he sobbed into them, Shiro and Keith felt their hearts breaking. At that moment, they didn’t realize the amount of tragedy that was coming. 

Not till the next week when a girl in Lance’s government class exploded into nothing.


	2. Chaotic Counseling Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance sits through an intense counseling session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! Hope you enjoy! :)

Group therapy was bullshit.

Yeah, yeah. Lance understood that group therapy can be helpful for some. Yet as he sat in the dead silent classroom, waiting for the counselor to come back to this mandatory session, he really couldn't fathom how. 

12 people. That's how many people were in this room, and that's how many people were there for both of the explosions. 

It shouldn't be too surprising. Freshman often shared many of the same classes. If anything, the fact that so many people witnessed both comforted him. Now he knew that he wasn't the only one at risk of spontaneously combusting. 

This time is was a girl named Alice Wilson. Lance could count the times he'd spoken to her on one hand, but she seemed nice. She sat a couple rows in front of him, so he'd been facing her when she exploded. 

When Anthony died, all Lance saw was the aftermath. Seeing the whole thing? 

Indescribable. 

Though it was hard for him to piece together how it happened, one thing he does remember is that she wasn't doing anything. She wasn't holding the fuse to a bomb, she didn't press any button. One moment she was writing in her notebook and the next she was smithereens. 

Anthony and Alice had the same government and science class, which they exploded in respectively. Therefore the school, along with the police, gathered everyone who shared those two classes and forced them into a joint group counseling session. 

They claimed it was for comforting the students, but Lance suspected they really just wanted information they could use in their investigation. 

And now Lance was sitting in a circle with 11 other students who could explode at any moment. 

"Why do you think this is happening?" A girl finally spoke. She had bright green hair and dark skin. She spoke with such confidence that Lance wouldn't have been able to tell she was nervous if he hadn't been sitting close enough to see her shaking. 

"Maybe it's God. Maybe he's punishing us." The thin boy who spoke took a brief pause, "The sinners anyway." He took a sideways glance at certain people in the classroom, including Lance. He would be annoyed if he cared enough, which he didn't at the moment. 

"That's fucking stupid." Snapped the green haired girl. "Alice is one of the best people I've ever met. Plus, why would it be our class? If there is a God, does he really give a shit about us?"

"Maybe we decide."

Everyone went quiet as the girl who spoke nervously looked around. "Maybe we all subconsciously want someone to die next, so it happens."

The green haired girl sat rigid in her seat. "Are you saying you wanted Alice and that other dude to die?" 

"Not outwardly. But maybe they're just the people that we collectively hold the most resentment towards." 

"Yeah but whats the point?" Lance finally asked. "What you all should be asking is, when does it stop? Is it going to keep going till we're all dead?"

The silence in the room was filled with tension. Lance had voiced a fear that crowded everyone's brain.

"Maybe it's until there's only one of us left." A buff guy said from his seat in the middle, his gaze sizing up everyone in the circle. His hostile eyes obviously showed who he thought should be the last person standing. 

"Or maybe it's till we're all dead." Said another guy, who was glaring at him. Lance wasn't the only one who picked on his aggression.

"Why don't we just beat them to the cut?" A girl interjected, though Lance gave up trying to keep track of who said what. She continued with a fierce tone, "I'd rather die in my own way than become fucking wall paper."

"More like paint." The buff guy interrupted, sending her a sly glance.

"I don't want to die!" A tall boy wailed suddenly from Lance's left.

"This triggered the people who had been silent for most of the conversation. The room split evenly between those who sat terrified and crying, and those who started to shout out their own arguments.

Soon the class erupted into chaos. Genuine fear for their lives was something most of these students hadn't experienced, and it made the hostility in the room skyrocket.

Lance sat silently as he watched everything unfold. Then, the counselor burst through the door at the noise.

"What is going on here?" She yelled as she surveyed the chaos. Most of the arguing stopped, though one girl started vomiting on the floor. 

"I leave for five minutes." She muttered as she came in and closed the door. 

"You're not the one fucking dying lady." The green haired girl snapped.

"We're not dying either." A boy interjected timidly.

"Are you a moron?" She shouted back, and the chaos erupted again. 

As the volume of the room increased, the counselor sat at an empty chair with a glint of sympathy in her eyes. Lance leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. 

Lance didn't want to die either.


	3. Fantastic Football Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New friends are introduced. People explode. Though, not necessarily in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Just wanted to say thank you if you're reading! 
> 
> Also, reminder! This story isn't my own. This is entirely based off of the book Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy :)

This was our second session. About a week had passed since the previous group therapy session, which means about two weeks has passed since someone last blew up. Lance had gotten used to flinching at every sound, always on edge. Hell, you never know when someone was combustible. 

It was no secret that lance used humor as a form of coping. Before most people had found it endearing, but apparently after someone explodes jokes are off limits. 

“Sorry, my cell is just blowing up right now,” Lance announced to the group as his cellphone wouldn’t stop vibrating with notifications. 

“We get that jokes are you’re way of coping with this,” Claire hissed, “but this is supposed to be a safe environment. Stop it before you give me a flashback.”

“I like Lances jokes.” Brian protested. “They help me remember it’s okay to smile. I probably wouldn't come to these things if he wasn’t here.”

Lance smiled in his direction. “Thank you Brian.” He started to recognize the cliches of this group. The smart-ass jokes, the sensitive people, the forging of friends and making of enemies. Though, it was only cliche for a moment. Because almost immediately after announcing his support of Lances’ humor, Brian blew up. 

~~~

Lance had known Brian since the eighth grade. He was a sweet kid, Lance had even kissed him once. It was on a field trip in a spur of the moment situation, and Lance had vowed never to talk about it again. 

Despite the awkward situation, Brian had never spread rumors about Lance. Never outed him to the school and never made fun of him for it. Brian even continued to give Lance his in-character small talk. In passing he would ask Lance how class went or how he did on the bio exam. 

As Lance thought about this information, he gathered one conclusion. No matter how insensitive Lance might be, he’d made jokes because of his own messed up mind. Not because they deserved it.

~~~

Here’s what happens when a guy blows up in your group therapy session that is supposed to make you feel better about people blowing up. 

The therapy session is indefinitely canceled. In the end, it didn’t make anyone feel better. 

The remaining eleven people in the room were escorted to the police station. With the two previous deaths the police had been more considerate and sensitive. But they decided enough was enough. Three explosions within the same group of people couldn’t be a coincidence. 

Lance stood in the hall with his fellow classmates. The green haired girl let out a scream of frustration. After a moment of silence, she let out another one. 

Claire interjected, “So who did it?”

“Really?” Green haired girl and Lance spoke at the same time. 

“Yes really, Dianna!” She snapped back at the green haired girl, Dianna apparently, ignoring Lance completely. “Everyone knows this can’t be a coincidence. So who’s fessing up?”

“Oh yeah?” Dianna asked angrily, “how would we even have done it?”

“However people like you do things!” Lance felt his blood boil a bit at that. Though, Dianna apparently had a cool enough head to ignore the blatant racism. 

“Really? Stop being an idiot, Claire. It wasn’t a bomb. Brian’s chair was completely intact. Becky was sitting right next to him, and she’s fine.” 

Becky let out a loud sob from where she had been laying on the floor. 

“Physically, I mean.” Dianna clarified. 

Everybody else in the room was staying silent, their eyes following the conversation but not offering any insight themselves. They seemed mostly stumped and confused. Though Lance didn’t blame them. 

When the hallway door finally opened, there stood an FBI Agent by the name of Selena Lloyd. Lance had briefly spoken to her when she interviewed him the night Anthony died.   
“You’re free to go. If you have an emergency contact, we’ve called for them to pick you up. We will be in touch with you tomorrow morning.”

Claire walked out grumbling while the rest of them moved like the living dead. Once Lance finally got outside, it didn’t take him long to find Shiro and Keith standing next to Shiro’s car. While they still held worry in their faces, Lance noticed their less fierce and more tired stances. To be fair, this was the third time in three weeks they had been called to pick up a bloody Lance.

Lance quietly walked over to them with a distinct lack of emotion. Once Shiro’s eyes fell on him, despite Lance’s disgusting clothes, he wrapped him in a firm hug. Lance rested his head on Shiro’s shoulder in silence, meanwhile Keith looked at the other student’s murderously. Though this only lasted a few seconds, as it seemed as apparent to Keith as it was to everyone else, that none of them had done it. As Keith watched the students drag themselves to their family and friends, weeping or plain emotionless, his eyes took on a sympathetic look. They were all in the same shitty boat. 

~~~

About two weeks since the incidents with the group therapy session, Lance hardly left Keith or Shiro’s side. While it was partially for the comfort they offered, it was partially for another reason. A more stupid reason.

Lance had the thought that if he stayed with Keith and Shiro at all times, he wouldn’t see anyone explode. That might be an idiotic concept, but so far the only explosions that have happened, have been witnessed by the same group of people. Maybe if Lance stuck around people not of that group, he wouldn’t have to see anymore combusting. Or maybe no one would explode at all. 

While it was definitely wishful thinking, Lance didn’t have any better ideas. 

On Thursday, Shiro asked Lance and Keith to accompany him to a football game. While Lance felt a little nervous, he always did now, he wasn’t too scared of the idea. After all, no one had exploded in front of so many people. 

So they went. Lance slipped on an undershirt, shirt, then scarf, even though it was quite warm outside. He always did this now, so that incase someone exploded on him, he’d be able to take off his top layers instead of sitting in the gore of someone’s insides. 

Once they reached the game, they took seats at the front row of the bleachers. Meaning people were constantly walking by them, but Lance didn’t mind. He was feeling more relaxed in this open setting. 

“Hey Lance.” Two voices sounded over Lance’s shoulder. Looking back, he saw the Dalton twins. A few things to note about the Dalton twins. First, they were fraternal brother and sister, Joe Dalton being 5 minutes older than Jenna Dalton. Second, they were pretty much the main drug supplier in the University. While Lance himself didn’t do drugs, he didn’t have a problem with being friends with those who did. And third, the only reason they talked in unison is because they are convinced it makes them seem cooler. In a way, it did. 

“Hey guys.” Lance greeted easily. Shiro stayed engrossed in the game, which hadn’t even started yet, but Keith briefly turned to wave at the twins. 

“We heard about the explosions.” Joe whispered to Lance, as if the whole stadium hadn’t already been talking about it. 

“Yeah dude, that’s so-” Jenna started.

“Crazy!”

“Insane!”

They both glared at each other, as if they should have read each other’s minds better. Sometimes their speaking in unison thing didn’t work out, but Lance liked them enough to not pay attention to that. 

“They’re doing the coin toss!” Shiro told Lance and Keith excitedly. While Lance didn’t really understand football, he loved his boyfriend so he turned his attention to the game, knowing Shiro was going to want to discuss it later. 

Though, watching the first ten minutes of the game, Lance established that he still didn’t care for sports. What he did care about was the immense joy that he would feel when watching Harper Wie, Perry Love, and Steve Cox. 

These three boys were players on the Universities football team, though they were mostly benchwarmers. Lance wanted to see them sit together on the bench. He wanted to be entertained by something as mundane yet satisfying as watching the three of them sit next to each other, their last names proudly displayed on their jerseys. It may not be the most perfect pun, but when seeing Wie, Love, Cox lined up on the back of some footballers’ shirts, well it was at least a little bit funny. 

The order was currently Wie Cox, which may be funny in other places, but Lance wanted to see them all together. 

Lance bounced back and forth between staring at the bench and taking quick glances at Shiro. He was so adorable, being so invested in the game. At some point, Keith caught him looking and raised his eyebrow, but Lance just stuck his tongue out and continued to admire. 

In a particularly tense last few seconds, Lance’s universities team was on the verge of winning. The team quarterback, Malik his jersey said, was reaching the end of the field, ball in hand. Once he reached the five yard line, it happened. 

He dropped the ball. The crowd screamed as the ball bounced once before Malik managed to catch it again. One last leap, then touchdown!

The crowd went absolutely crazy. People were jumping and screaming, some running onto the field. The band tried to break into a celebratory song, but they were off time due to their excitement, so it ended up sounding like a bunch of random noises. 

Lance hugged Shiro and Keith, their backs facing the stand and him standing in the middle, facing the field. Lance felt joy for the first time in a while, even if he didn’t understand the game very well. The energy in the stand was enough to get his blood pumping. 

Then he glanced to the side and saw Special Agent Lloyd standing there, pointing at something by the field. Lance followed her gaze and traveled his eyes towards the bench. There were two players standing in front of it. Frozen.

Their jerseys read Wie and Cox. Though, there was an open space between them. Lance realized he had missed his moment. And so had Agent Lloyd. Because a few seconds prior, Perry Love had been standing in that open space.

Wie Love Cox.

It was a terrible joke, one Lance couldn't believe he ever thought was funny. Though whatever it was, it would never happen again. Because Perry Love was now splattered on their jerseys. 

What had previously been a private phenomenon, only experienced by a handful of unlucky college students was now a public event. It had been experienced and even recorded by many. 

Lance froze against Shiro and Keith. They both turned towards him, doing a good impression of the Dalton twins who were currently hollering up a storm, when they asked in unison, “Did something happen?”

Lance loosened his grip to allow them to turn and view the disaster currently happening on the field. He saw their faces slack and mouths drop. It was almost like they hadn’t believed it was even real before they saw the direct aftermath of it. 

“Everything happened.” Lance whispered.


	4. A Drug Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes a new friend and works with an Officer. People die, and again, Lance isn't spared the sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, another chapter! I've been looking forwards to writing this one, as it contains one of the most impacting scenes in Spontaneous (by Aaron Starmer). Hope you enjoy!

The thing about always thinking you’re going to die, is that you worry less about the little things. Every second is a precious moment that shouldn’t be wasted. Within the next week Lance saw so many relationships start and end.

 

One of the relationships that began was Ethan Starmer and Shannon Wilde. Lance had gone to high school with them, and they had both been crushing on each other since at least Sophomore year. In fact, pretty much the whole school was in on it. They were oblivious to the others interest, but everyone could see, clear as day, that they had a thing for each other.

 

Shannon Wilde lived off campus, one of the students lucky enough that their parents lived in town. On Monday morning, over a week since the incident at the football game, Shannon’s father walked into his daughter’s room and realized his little girl was no more. 

 

The next day at college, people went to offer their condolences to Ethan. It’s sad that such a new relationship was gone in about four days. 

 

“Drugs.” A voice sounded from Lance’s right. 

 

He sat in his State Government class, though neither he nor the majority of his classmates bothered to pay attention. Lance glanced to his side, realizing that it was Dianna, the outspoken girl from the therapy sessions. “What?”

 

“Drugs.” She repeated, keeping her eyes trained on the board. “ Maybe that’s what's causing it.”

 

“I doubt it.” Lance frowned, his mind wondering to all the victims so far. “I mean, what about Perry? He was on the football team, and they’re drug tested on the regular, aren’t they?” 

 

She snorted, showing her disbelief. “Please. Most football players are notified before the tests are administered. Coach doesn’t want his good players getting kicked off the team.” Her now faded green hair blocked her face from view.

 

Lance made a thoughtful noise as he pondered this. “Okay. Then maybe drugs.”

 

She finally glanced over to him, and Lance felt his heart sink. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she had makeup smudged over and under her eyes. Lance forgot that one of the victims had been her girlfriend. Alice, he recalled her name vaguely. 

 

“How have you been holding up?” He asked softly, trying to be sympathetic, but not too annoying about it. She pursed her lips at the question, having an obvious distaste for it. She had probably gotten in it countless times within the past few weeks.

 

After a few moments of her being unresponsive, Lance attempted to remedy the situation, “It’s been shit for me. I wasn’t particularly close with any of them, but I still jump every time I hear a loud noise. Seeing that shit changes you.”

 

She seemed to ease at that, he was giving her an out if she didn’t want to talk about herself. “You can say that again. Yesterday, I screamed in the shower because someone in the stall next to me dropped a shampoo bottle.” 

 

Lance smiled understandingly, “I get it. I scared one of my boyfriends half to death when I had a freak out at a gunshot noise on the show he was watching. I tried to tell him that I’m okay now, but he still watches tv with subtitles only.” 

 

Dianna let out a small laugh at that, and Lance couldn’t help but feel slightly accomplished. “Your boyfriend is Keith Kogane right? I think he was in the grade ahead of me in high school.”

 

“Yup.” Lance rested his elbows on the table in front of him, letting his head fall into his hands, “My other boyfriend is Shiro.”

 

“Shiro?” She repeated with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

 

Lance nodded, “Takashi Shirogane. He’s a graduate student.” 

 

“Gross.” Dianna muttered with a shake of her head.

 

Lance blinked, not sure if he should be offended or not. “What?”

 

“You get this sappy look on your face when you talk about them.” She stuck her tongue out, and Lance could tell she was joking with him.

 

Lance laughed again, apologizing teasingly. Before he could further the conversation, his classmates stood up simultaneously, the ruffling of backpacks drowning out whatever he had to say. 

 

Dianna and him stood as well, gathering their untouched materials. 

 

“We should get coffee sometime.” Lance offered her, slightly because he wanted to be there for her; however, slightly because he hoped she’d be there for him. 

 

“Are you asking me out?” She joked, speaking loudly to be heard over the commotion, “I don’t think your boyfriends would approve.” She playfully nudges him, and together they headed towards the exit.

 

“You know what I mean. It’d be nice to have a friend who’s also been there since the beginning.” Lance replied to her, stopping as they reached the end of the classroom.

 

She smiled, almost in relief, and replied with a simple, “Okay.”

 

They exchanged numbers before they went their separate ways, and Lance felt better than he had in awhile. 

 

Sadly, it didn’t last long.

 

Lance was greeted with a silent apartment when he arrived back at Shiro’s. He sought out his boyfriends, already knowing they should both be free from classes. 

 

He found them taking a nap together on Shiro’s couch, position not entirely comfortable. Lance leaned against the wall, enjoying how peaceful they looked. They had hardly relaxed since this shit started happened.

 

Slowly, Keith’s eyes blinked open, “Lance?”

 

Lance smiled simply, “Go back to sleep. I’m gonna go work on an essay.”

 

Keith grumbled at that and started to wiggle around, “No! Come lay with us.” 

 

Lance looked at Keith in disbelief, eyes sweeping over them, “Keith that couch barely fits one person, let alone three.” 

 

Keith looked thoughtful for a second, before lightly shaking Shiro. He blearily lifted his head, hair sticking out in all directions making Lance giggle quietly.

 

“Come on. Let’s move to your bed so Lance can lay with us.” 

 

Shiro’s eyes scrunched in confusion before they landed on Lance who was amusedly staring at them from his vantage point against the wall. “Oh!”

 

Keith herded Shiro up, who was too exhausted to comment, and the three of them made their way towards the bed. Lance felt incredibly fond of Keith’s effort to make Lance feel better. It seemed like these days they all had to work to keep each other sane.

 

Right before Lance got to settle down in bed with his wonderful boyfriends, his phone rang loudly. 

 

At the sight of the unknown number, Lance insisted they settle down without him. He moved to the living room to answer the call, though with the size of the apartment they could undoubtedly still hear his conversation.

 

“Hello?” Lance answered politely, clashing with the impatience he was feeling. He just wanted to get back to his boyfriends.

 

“Hi, is this Lance Mcclain?” A feminine voice answered, sounding boredly professional.

 

“Yes, that’s me.” Lance confirmed, sending a wistful glance towards the bedroom.

 

“This is Officer Selena Lloyd. Would you be able to come down to the police department today for a brief interview on recent events?”

 

Lance sighed audibly, “When would I need to be there?

 

Her answer was clipped, “As soon as possible.”

 

Well, so much for cuddling.

 

When Lance had wrapped up his call, he returned to Keith with the bad news, Shiro having already fallen back asleep.

 

Keith cursed multiple times. “We never get to see you anymore.” He complained loudly with a pout on his face that definitely wasn’t supposed to as be adorable as it was.

 

“I know,” Lance sighed and gave Keith a gentle kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Wish me luck.”

 

“Good luck,” Keith called as he watched Lance retreat wistfully. 

 

~~~

 

The police station was in chaos, people running around and having conversations from across the room. Lance hesitated at the door, before approaching the annoyed looking man sitting at the front desk. 

 

“Hello,” He started, “I’m here to see Officer Lloyd.”

 

The man looked up from his computer with pursed lips, but nonetheless used his extension line to call her. When he was finished, he shooed Lance away with his hand.

 

Lance pursed his lips but kept his polite face and tone, not wanting any trouble. When Officer Lloyd did show up after a couple minutes, to say he was shocked would be an understatement.

 

While she had previously looked put together, she now looked like she hadn't slept in days. Maybe she hadn’t, with everything that was going on. Her blonde hair was greasy, and she was wearing a wrinkled white button up.

 

Still, she was professional with her greeting, “Hello Mr. Mcclain. Please, follow me.”

 

They walked briskly into a back room with two seats. She gestured for him to sit in one, and she sat opposite him. He kept his back straight and maintained eye contact with her. She seemed like the no-nonsense type.

 

By the end of the interview, Lance liked her.

 

She was sarcastic and brash while still keeping her professional tone. She actually discussed theories with him and answered his questions, acting as an equal instead of using her power position. 

 

“Do you think it could have to do with drugs?” Lance brought up at the end of their session.

 

“Well, we have discussed it. But there really is no way in knowing.” She paused, giving him a sly look, “Actually, there is one was of knowing. If you could get your hands on some of the most commonly used substances, we could test this theory.”

 

Lance was dubious, “Is this some sort of test? I don’t do drugs.”

 

“But you know where to get them.” She deduced with a satisfied look.

 

“No.” Lances answer was immediate. Did she really think he was stupid?

 

She sighed again, leaning forward, “Lance, I’m with the FBI. People are dying, and that right now is more important than preaching a drug free life. If you can go undercover and get some, you will not be in any trouble, nor your dealer. This is between you and me.”

 

Lance was still hesitant, “Why don’t you just get some yourself?”

 

She pursed her lips and finally leaned back, giving Lance more space. “If this is caused by drugs, it is specific to the drugs your class is taking. Only a certain year so far has been victims, so I’m assuming there’s a well-known dealer for your grade?”

 

The Dalton twins. Lance stayed silent.

 

She nodded, taking his silence as an affirmative, “Help me, Lance. You could save lives.” 

 

Lance thought for a moment. He actually liked her, and he trusted her to a extent. Also, he’d feel guilty if he didn’t try to help at all.

 

“Okay.”

 

~~~

 

Lance sat in the back seat of the Dalton’s shared pickup truck, listening to some sort of death metal on their radio.

 

“Why the sudden change in heart Lance? You’ve never done this stuff before.” Jenna conversed with him from the driver's seat. She had one hand on the wheel, the other set on the driver’s side door.

 

Lance shrugged, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t think they’d appreciate the truth much. Or at all.

 

“Whatever, more business for us.” Joe smirked at Lance from the passenger seat, meeting his eyes in the rear view mirror.

 

“He’s more annoying than usual today.” Keith grumbled, though only Lance could hear him.

 

Saying Shiro and Keith were unhappy about what he’d agreed to do would be an understatement. They didn’t want him involved in the investigation, positive it would go awry.

 

Lance firmly told them that he was going to do it no matter how they felt about it, but to appease them he agreed to be on the phone with them. So there Lance sat, in the backseat with earphones in, secretly on the line with his two worried boyfriends.

 

Lance didn’t reply to Keith, instead asking the twins, “Are we almost there?”

 

“Two minutes.” The twins answered back simultaneously. When he called them for a sample basket of everything they had, they had insisted on him riding with them to the meetup spot. He couldn’t blame them though, it was a sketchy request.

 

“So, do you want to get high with us? Sad shit to get high alone, even if this month has been hell.” Jenna offered.

 

“No thanks,” Lance replied, trying to come up with a fast excuse. “I won't be alone.”

 

“Really?” Joe grunted, “Who-” 

 

Thank God for headrests. 

 

Joe’s blood splattered on the windshield, doors, and on his twin sister. Lance physically choked, turning his head just in time to keep any excess gore from going into his mouth. The headrest dividing Joe and Lance took the brunt it though.

 

Lance distantly heard Shiro and Keith voices, but he’d accidentally ripped out the earphones, his phone falling to the floor.

 

“Jenna?” Lance asked frantically, unbuckling his seat belt to lean into the front seat, “Jenna? God, are you okay? Are you alright?” 

 

“No, no, no, no.” She moaned, though Lance didn’t think she processed his question.

 

Lance grabbed onto her arm, ignoring the blood he touched, “Pull over sweetheart. Okay? Just pull over.” 

 

“He.. No. He was good. He didn’t…” Jenna muttered, keeping the car driving.

 

“Jenna listen. You need to pull over right now.” 

 

She blinked at Lance’s urgent tone, and God she was the toughest girl he’d ever met. She simply said, “It’s on the windshield. I can’t see out of the windshield!” 

 

Lance reached forward and wiped away some of the blood on her windshield, helping her see out of it. Sadly, he noticed that there was a car behind them, and there wasn’t a shoulder to their right, only buildings. He tried to keep his tone comforting, “It’s okay. Don’t break, turn into the next parking lot you see.”

 

She simply followed his direction, as if she didn’t know what else to do with herself. She turned on her right turn signal, and slowly turned into a Krispy Kreme parking lot. As she did this, she hummed, tears streaming down her face and mixing with red.

 

Lance snatched up his phone and ripped the earphones out, hearing his boyfriends' frantic voices over the phone. He pressed the phone to his ear and said, “Krispy Kreme.”

 

“Lance!” Shiro cried.

 

“What happened?” Keith butted in.

 

“It happened again. Come to-” 

 

Jenna  promptly blew up.

 

“Shit!” Lance cried, dropping the bloody phone as he made a lunge for the steering wheel, but his seat belt pulled him back. Seeing the parked car he was about to crash into, he shielded his head just in time for the impact.

 

His head slammed against the back window hard, and he blacked out alone in this blood drenched car to the screaming voices of Keith and Shiro.


End file.
